Atomic War and the Dead City

The firestorm has subsided,
Except for glowing embers,
Darkness covers the dead city,
Flattened, with melted
Greenish glass everywhere,
A hotbed of radioactivity,
A million humans mercifully
Incinerated in its center,
Many just evaporated,
All wrapped in a silent dark,
While in the suburbs
A million dying and injured
Scream throughout the night
With no hospitals or
Ambulances in sight.

Now, I understand why in
This vast, vast universe
We never found intelligent life,
For there is a scheme of things
Which eliminates all interference
With the basic processes of nature.

I walk through devastated rubble,
Uninjured, but probably
A victim of radiation,
Perchance, I can help
The wounded in the suburbs,
And I wonder if there
Is any hope at all?
Still, I light a candle
To stay the darkness.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2006 Alfred Charasz